Alright everyone, this is it. The moment of truth. Will Itachi be allowed to stay? Or will he be hunted down for his crimes? Many twists in this chapter so read carefully. Enjoy!

Hidden Leaf Village (Rooftop)

Itachi stood there, speechless. Everyone stared at him. One of the ANBU stepped forward. "Lord Hokage, are you sure that it is wise to—" The Third snapped. "Are you questioning my judgement?" The ninja stumbled over his words. "No, no of course not." The ninja backed away to join the other ANBU members.

Yugao was furious and almost lost her cool. Kakashi was confused as well and walked toward the Third. "Perhaps it would be better if you gave Itachi a probation period. That would give the rest of the village time to adjust to him." The Hokage sighed. "…Fine, yes that would be a good idea. I don't want to lose the trust of my own village." The Third turned around, but before he could take a step, he fell to his knees and grabbed his arm.

"Lord Hokage!" A medical ninja approached him to check his arm. Itachi turned to face them. "His arm is dead. My seal is the only thing preventing it from spreading to the rest of his body." The medical ninja looked up at him, frightened. "I'm not familiar with this kind of jutsu." Another ninja walked over to examine it.

From in the crowd, Hinata tried to get a glimpse of what was going on. "Byakugan!" She looked around and found Naruto standing next to Itachi. She also saw the Third kneeling on the ground. She looked a little closer at his arm and was shocked. There was a black chakra flowing through his arm and it looked like it was eating away at his arm!

One of the medical ninja at the Hokage's side saw this too. "Lord Hokage, I'm afraid the only thing we can do to stop it is to amputate your arm." Shock passed through the crowd. People started muttering to eachother and looked at his arm. The Third thought for a moment, and then looked up. "Then it is decided. Take me to the operating room and then back to my quarters." The two ninja nodded and lifted him. They then left in a hurry along with a heavy guard unit.

Now everyone looked at Itachi. Naruto was starting to get uncomfortble with all of the looks."Itachi-sensei, what now?" Itachi sighed. "I'm going back to the hideout. It is not yet safe here for me." He turned to look at Naruto. "Now that the chuunin exams are over, we have something to discuss when you get back. Take some time to be with your team. Also, teleport your weapons back to the hideout. They will be safe there." Naruto looked confused but did as he was told. Itachi smiled. "I will see you later."

Naruto nodded and Itachi walked away. People moved to get out of his way but kept their eyes on him. Yugao and a few other ANBU members stormed off. Naruto looked around and walked over to Hinata. Shino and Kurenai were standing with her. Naruto looked at them and sighed. "That was a little more attention than I wanted." He laughed nervously. Kurenai smiled. "It will be alright Naruto. How about I take us all out for lunch?"

That immediately got Naruto's spirit up. "Alright!" Hinata giggled and even Shino smiled. They turned to walk away but were stopped by Kakashi. "Would you mind if my team joined you?" Kurenai shook her head. "Of course not, you are welcome to come." Kakashi looked at Sasuke. "You may come if you would like Sasuke." Sasuke couldn't look his sensei in the eye. "I would like that." Kakashi smiled behind his mask and they all turned towards the village. Naruto could feel dozens of eyes on them as they left.

Uchiha Hideout

Itachi jumped down into the hideout and looked around. "I must get things ready. Now that Naruto has taken the exam, we can get to serious training." Itachi walked over to a door and opened it. He walked into the weapon room and looked around at all of his treasures. He looked up at the dangling kunai and examined all of his weapons to make sure that they were in good shape. He walked over to Naruto's weapon scroll and strapped it to his back.

Itachi went through every room like this. He checked to make sure everything was in place, then he would shut and lock it behind him. When he got to Naruto's room, he hesitated. He had never gone into Naruto's room since he took Naruto in. He upheld a very strict rule of privacy, courtasy of his days with the ANBU. He went into Naruto's room for a short moment, checking that everything was in order. He then left the room and locked the door behind him.

Itachi had one more thing to do. He walked over to his great obsidian chair sitting in the middle of the hall. Itachi walked behind it and touched the wall above the chair. He activated a seal and the fake wall dissappeared. Hidden inside was a black cloak covered in red clouds. "The Akatsuki cloak." He grabbed it from the hook it was on and resealed the wall. He then put the cloak on and left a note on Naruto's door. It read,

"I will be back shortly. Wait here until I return. I have some buisness to take care of.

Itachi.

P.S. I went into your room to make everything was secure. I hope you don't mind."

Itachi then jumped out of the hidout, taking the cloak and scroll with him, and sealed the door behind him.

Hidden Leaf Village

Naruto and the others walked into the restaurant. It wasn't a fancy place, but they had good food. After they sat down, no one spoke for awhile. "What's wrong guys, why is no one talking?" Naruto said with a confused voice. Kakashi looked over to Kurenai, hoping that she would explain, but she remained silent. Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, do you think that the village will really accept Itachi?" Naruto looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Hinata was sitting next to Naruto and was starting to get uncomfortable. Kakashi explained. "Naruto, the Third Hokage has been well respected ever since he first became the Hokage of the Leaf. But you must realize that no matter how much people respect you, they will not always choose your side."

Naruto looked straight at Kakashi, then down at the table. "So you are saying that even though the Third has forgiven Itachi-sensei, there are people who have not." Kakashi went on, "There are some people who never will, Naruto." Naruto became sad and Hinata grabbed his hand with hers.

"Naruto." Everyone looked up and stared at Sasuke, who hadn't spoke this entire time. "Even though I despise what my brother did…now that I have seen him face-to-face, I am unsure of how I feel." Kakashi and Kurenai were in disbelief. "No matter what he did, he is my brother….He deserves to be heard, even if I won't like what he has to say."

Naruto stared in awe at Sasuke. "Is this the same Sasuke that I once knew?" Before any more of the awkward conversation could continue, the food was brought out and they all began to eat. Naruto turned to Kurenai. "Sensei, thank you for trusting me." Kurenai smiled. "You are my student Naruto, and part of my team. I will always give you the benefit of the doubt." Naruto smiled.

After they were done eating, Naruto leaned over and whispered something to Hinata. Shino looked over and saw that Hinata was blushing slightly. Then she nodded and looked excited. Naruto turned to the rest of them. "Thank you everyone for the food. We should do this again soon." Naruto smiled and bid them farewell, and both him and Hinata left. Ever since they had sat down, Hinata had never let go of his hand.

The two of them walked around the village for quite some time. They looked at eachother and smiled and eventually reached the top of the cliff, which the previous Hokage's faces were carved into. They sat down and overlooked the village. "Hinata, being with you makes me so happy." Naruto smiled as Hinata leaned on his shoulder. "I feel the same way Naruto." Naruto frowned a bit as his mind wandered.

"Hinata, what do you think will happen next?" Hinata looked confused and sat up to look at Naruto. "What do you mean?" Naruto looked out over the village. "What Kakashi said about Itachi not being accepted….now that the ANBU know he is a threat, don't you think they will pursue him again?" Hinata shuddered and wrapped her arms around Naruto.

"Don't think about that Naruto. We don't know what will happen, and it does no good for us to guess." Naruto looked down. "Yea, you're right Hinata." He looked over at her and hugged her. "Thank you." Hinata hugged him back. They looked at eachother deeply and stared into the other's eyes.

Naruto broke the silence. "Hinata, if I have to go away with Itachi…you don't have to wait for me." Hinata was shocked but then smiled. "Naruto, I will always wait for you." She leaned towards him and kissed him very lightly on the lips.

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto unsealed the hideout and jumped down. The first thing he noticed was that Itachi wasn't there. He also noticed that all of the doors were shut. "That's weird." Naruto thought. "Itachi-sensei never shuts the door to the kitchen." Naruto walked around and examined everything in the hideout. He finally got to his door and saw a note on it. He picked it up and read it.

"I will be back shortly. Wait here until I return. I have some buisness to take care of.

Itachi.

P.S. I went into your room to make everything was secure. I hope you don't mind."

Naruto folded the note and put it in his pocket. He then opened the door to his room and looked around. He remembered his very first lesson. "If someone has been in an area that belongs to you, then no matter how much you trust them, always check to make sure nothing was taken." Naruto walked around his room to make sure everything was in place, then he left his room, closing the door behind him.

Naruto wanted to check one more room. He walked over to the weapon room. He unlocked and unsealed the door. When he looked inside, his eyes snapped to where his weapons were supposed to be. "Huh?" Naruto said with a confuse face. He walked over and examined the spot. His weapons were gone, but he found a small singe mark on the ground where the scroll was supposed to be.

Naruto sighed. "Itachi took it. It is safe. But what did he want with it?" Naruto shrugged and walked to his room. He just realized that he was exhausted. It had been a very long day. He fell onto his bed and instantly went to sleep.

Outside Hidden Leaf Village (Waterfall)

Itachi was standing in front of the waterfall. He looked down into the eerily still water at the base. He could see his reflection, and he noticed that he was not the same man who killed the Uchiha Clan. "So you are here, Itachi."

Itachi looked forward into the waterfall. The voice was coming from behind it, but he could not make out the figure behind the waterfall. "Yes, I have come to ask for guidance." Itachi gazed into the outline of the figure, waiting for a response.

"You do not require guidance at this time, Itachi." Itachi was nervous and shifted under the Akatsuki cloak. "What do you mean by that?" The sound from the waterfall stopped, as did the water itself. "You know where you are going, and what you are doing. I cannot guide you if you already know your destination."

Itachi sighed. "But," The figure appeared to step towards the waterfall and almost appeared to be protruding from the it. "I do have some advice for you." Itachi listened closely. "Always have a back-up plan." The figure dissappeared from behind the waterfall and the water flowed normally once again.

Itachi was confused by the advice, but knew what he was going to do. He took out the scroll that held Naruto's weapons in it. He could not unseal it, but he did know how to add things to its contents. He took out his own, smaller scroll, and sealed it within the bigger scroll. He then turned from the waterfall and headed for the hideout.

Hidden Leaf Village (Secret Underground)

Three silhoutted figures stood in the huge room. The room stood like a hall, but it seemed to have no ceiling as it expanded on forever upwards. Two of the figures were clearly of higher rank, as the third one was kneeling in front of them.

"The Third Hokage has made a foolish decision." One of the standing figures said. The other standing figure agreed with the first. "Indeed, this action will surely weaken his trust with the commoners. We should strike now and take the village while we can." The first figure shook his head. "No, not yet. We must take care of something first. A single ninja stands in between me and my rise to power." The figure turned around and took a few steps forward. "You are to find Itachi Uchiha and bring him to me, alive." The figure that was kneeling nodded slightly, then vanished in a swirl of leaves.

The second standing figure moved towards the first. "My Lord, what are you plannoing to do with the Uchiha?" The first figure turned towards the other and half of his face was illuminated. His right eye and most of his face was covered in a thick bandage. "I plan to do what any man would do in order to gain his rightful place. I will destroy the stability of this village. Not with Itachi, he is just the first step. My rule will be assured as soon as a few loose ends are taken care of."

Uchiha Hideout

Itachi jumped down into the hideout. He figured that Naruto was back because the note that he had left on the door was gone. He went to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. He walked to Naruto's door and cracked it open. "Naruto, you in there?" Itachi heard a groan and took that for a "yes". "Come on out, I have something to tell you."

Itachi walked back to the center of the hall and sat down on the floor. Naruto came out a few minutes later in the same green suit he had on during the exams. "Yes Itachi-sensei? What's going on?" Itachi motioned for Naruto to sit down and he did.

"Naruto, now that the chuunin exams are over, there is much more that I can teach you." Naruto listened carefully. "But, training in this hideout will only serve us so well. We can learn so much more from distant lands. Which is why we will be going away for training this time."

Naruto was shocked but tried not to show it. "Go away? Do you mean like outside the Hidden Leaf?" Itachi chuckled. "Much farther than that Naruto. We will be going past the border of the Land of Fire." Naruto was nervous. He didn't know what to say. "When….will we be leaving?"

Itachi frowned and closed his eyes. "Tomorrow." Naruto started to panic. "Tomorrow? Should we really be leaving that soon? I mean, the exams just finished." Itachi looked up at Naruto and smiled. "It will be ok Naruto. It would be best to leave early. After all, we don't know if the Third's decision of putting me on 'probation' will hold."

Naruto agreed with Itachi. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that many people would not agree with the Hokage on his recent decree. "Itachi-sensei, what about Hinata and the others? What about my team?" Itachi sighed. "I know it's hard Naruto, but you must leave them behind for now. They will be fine and we won't be gone for more than six months."

Naruto almost started to cry, but he was able to hold it in. Itachi stood up and walked over to him. "Naruto, you are strong. But if you wish to protect those you care about, you must become stronger." Naruto nodded and Itachi walked towards his room. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "Go Naruto. Be with your team tonight. We leave tomorrow at dawn."

Hidden Leaf Village

Naruto walked through the village one last time before he would have to leave. He was sad at first, but he realized that Itachi was right. He would have to train so that he could become much stronger. "It's for Hinata. I just hope I can tell her."

Naruto walked pass the Hyuuga mansion first. No one was home. He sighed and decided that He would tell Shino first. Once he finally arrived at Shino's house, Naruto stopped and waited. He didn't know why, but he was scared to tell Shino. "What will he think? Maybe he will think that I am abandoning the team. Maybe he will tell everyone that I'm a traitor….Maybe he will tell Hinata before I can."

Naruto shook his head to clear his mind of the thoughts as he walked up to the door. He knocked and waited. There was no answer. Naruto was starting to get annoyed. "I get myself all worked up and he's not even here." Naruto turned around and walked away. He started to run and jumped up onto a rooftop.

From there, Naruto looked around for any of his teammates. "There!" Kurenai looked up to see Naruto standing on a roof and waved. Naruto laughed nervously when he realized how loud he had shouted. He jumped down and ran to meet his sensei.

"Well hello there, Naruto. Why are you in such a big hurry?" Naruto smiled, and then he remembered why and frowned. "Kurenai-sensei, I have an opportunity to leave the village and train. I'm sorry, but I have to take it so I can get stronger. I hope you aren't upset." Kurenai nodded and then smiled.

"Oh, well Naruto don't worry about it." Naruto looked up and was confused. "Huh?" Kurenai smiled again. "We all have opportunities that we must take, even if that means leaving our friends behind for awhile." She paused for a moment, then she looked directly at Naruto. "Why do you feel like you need to be stronger? You practically won the chuunin exams."

Naruto smiled. "My dream is to become the Hokage. I'm not nearly strong enough right now….And I want to get stronger to protect the people I care about." Kurenai smiled slyly. "Hmm, people like Hinata?" Naruto blushed and nodded.

"Alright Naruto. When do you leave?" Naruto frowned. "Tomorrow morning." Kurenai nodded. "Ok, you should get going and tell the others. Especially Hinata. I know how close you two must be." Naruto blushed a little then nodded and ran off.

Training Ground 4

"Parasitic Insects Jutsu." Hundreds of tiny bugs swarmed around Hinata, but she was prepared. She bent her knees and ran forward, then jumped over the bugs. She landed behind Shino and before he could do anything, she unleashed her jutsu. "Rotation!" Hinata spun and a blue sphere appeared around her. Shino bounced off of the sphere and rolled when he landed. He almost instantly jumped to his feet and was ready for another round.

"Naruto!" Hinata smiled as she ran over to hug him. Naruto smiled too and wrapped his arms around her. "I thought you went home. Didn't you say that Itachi wanted to talk to you about something?" Naruto nodded slowly and frowned.

"Hinata, Shino…I am leaving on a training mission." Hinata was in shock and Shino stood like a statue. "I'm sorry, but it is to get stronger so I can be of more use to you as a teammate." Hinata shook her head. "But Naruto, you are one of the strongest people I know." Naruto smiled and a tear came to his eye.

"But I'm not strong enough." Hinata looked confused and she started to tear up too. Naruto walked towards her and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry Hinata." It was all he could say. Hinata just squeezed him tighter.

She finally let go and wiped the tears from her eyes. Shino walked forward and sighed. "Naruto, you are a good comrade. Possibly the best I've ever had." Naruto smiled and wiped his tears away. Then, Shino did something that Naruto had never seen him do. He raised his right hand up to the collar of his jacket, which covered his face, and he pulled it down. For the first time, Naruto and Hinata actually saw Shino's full face.

It was pale, much paler then either of them would have thought. Shino unzipped his jacket just enough so that the collar would stay out of his face. Shino smiled. "We will see each other again Naruto. Our team cannot be broken, and I am proud to call you my friend." Naruto smiled and walked over to Shino. He put his hand on Shino's shoulder and smiled.

"It feels good to have friends like you two, and to have such an awesome team." He took his hand off of Shino and looked back at Hinata. "Hinata—" Before Naruto could finish, Hinata was face-to-face with him and kissed him. He kissed her back and he never wanted to stop, but he knew that he had to.

When they finished Hinata hugged him again. "Promise me you will come back." Naruto chuckled a little and put his hands on her shoulders. She was getting ready to cry again. "I promise."

Uchiha Hideout (next morning)

Naruto woke up extra early. He was really excited that he was actually going to leave the Land of Fire and explore new places. Itachi was already up as well. He was packing food supplies that would last about two days. "I hope you remember your training Naruto. We will be hunting our own food once again."

Naruto nodded. "Of course I do Itachi-sensei. I'm ready for it." Itachi smiled and finished packing. "One more thing Naruto. Your teammates arranged something for you. They would like you to meet them at the front gate of the Leaf in about an hour." Naruto looked confused but nodded. "Alright, how long after that will I have before we leave?" Itachi replied. "Ten minutes."

Hidden Leaf Village (Front Gate)

Naruto walked up to the front gate. He looked around and didn't see anyone. "I must be early." He waited a few minutes and then, running towards him was Hinata. She had the biggest smile on her face that he had ever seen. Behind her was Kurenai and Shino.

Naruto smiled and braced himself as Hinata almost jumped to hug him. By the time they released eachother, Kurenai and Shino had reached them. "Good morning Naruto." Kurenai said as she smiled. "Morning." Naruto said back.

"We all have something for you before you go." Naruto looked confused as Shino stepped forward. He held out his hand and on it was a silver beetle figurene. "It may not have any practical value, but perhaps it can remind you that you are not alone. You have valuable friends awaiting your return." Naruto smiled and took the beetle. "Thank you Shino."

Hinata stepped forward next and was blushing. She held out a kunai that had a light purple ribbon attached to the end. "My father helped me to imbue some of my chakra into this kunai. Whenever you hold it, you should be able to feel my chakra signature." Naruto looked at the kunai with awe and quickly hugged Hinata. "Thank you."

When they were finished hugging, Kurenai smiled and gave Naruto a small rectangular box. "Open it." She said as she smiled. Naruto unwrapped the small box and when he opened it, he smiled. It was a ninja outfit, specialized for him. It had hard black leather on the front and an ornate deep blue design on it that looked like miniature tsunamis. The legs were sleek black and had a blue collar around each ankle. It came complete with a blue and black headband with the Hidden Leaf insignia on the front and the word 'Chuunin' on the inside.

Naruto smiled wide and hugged Kurenai. "Thank you so much sensei. I will be back in a few months." Kurenai hugged him back and then Naruto walked over to Hinata. He hugged her once again and kissed her. "I love you." He whispered to her. He then waved goodbye and ran off to meet Itachi who was standing in the distance.

Itachi and Naruto walked off into the distance and they made their own path through the forest. They walked a short distance and arrived at Tenchi Bridge. It was then that Itachi spoke. "Naruto, the road ahead is a difficult one. It will take all of your mind and body to complete." Naruto nodded and then Itachi stopped.

He turned to look at Naruto with warm but stern eyes. "If you do not give this training your all, then it will be for nothing." Naruto gulped and nodded again. "I will give it everything I've got!" Itachi smiled and they started walking again.

"Itachi-sensei, exactly what kind of training are we doing?" Itachi smirked. "All sorts of things. I've got a checklist of what you need to learn in the next six months. The first thing is—" Both Itachi and Naruto sensed it at the same time. They dodged in opposite directions just missing the paper bomb that almost hit them and prepared for a fight.

"Arg, what now?" Naruto said in an annoyed rather than angry voice. He waited and watched as the smoke cleared. A figure appeared in the smoke. "Is that…no it can't be." Naruto said in shock. "Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, I have come to claim your lives."

That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed it. Actually took me quite a bit of time without any fights. Sorry for the cliffhanger but maybe it will convince you to REVIEW! I have a new poll up that will remain until I finish this ark. I plan to split my entire story into four different arks and I need to know if I should split them into separate stories or keep them all bunched into this story. The poll is on my profile page. Let me know what you think!